Schama on Rembrandt: Masterpieces of the Late Years

Simon Schama celebrates the masterpieces of Rembrandt's last years. Although the artist fell into bankruptcy and scandal in later years, it took him to new creative heights.

Show more

Icarus-like, Rembrandt flew ever higher towards the sun - the most successful artist in the richest city on earth, 17th-century Amsterdam. He lived like a prince and he loved living like a prince. But when his fall came - deep into bankruptcy and scandal, poverty and unfashionability - far from destroying him, it took him to new creative heights and a sense of humanity and the human condition that speaks more directly to us today than Rembrandt in his heyday. Simon Schama celebrates the masterpieces of Rembrandt's last years.